The Spirits Of Equestria

Aeolus again, had no idea where he was. He looked to be way up in the sky, Higher than he had been in a long time, the place had a certain resemblance to him. He woke up on his back, rolling over onto his hooves he stood up and looked around. “Hello?” he called out, hearing no response he started to take in this wondrous place, even though there wasn’t much to look at. The voice he called out for finally responded.

“Hello Aeolus.”

Aeolus turned around quickly, standing before him… was himself.

“You.”

The two Aeolus stood mere feet apart. One was a Pegasus, with golden tipped wings, eyes heavy with thousands of years of living… the Aeolus of the past. One was without wings, looking newer, younger. Without the burden of remembering the many pains, and regrets that come with being immortal.

The Pegasus approached Aeolus slowly, and smacked him upside the head with a wing. The golden tips gave Aeolus a small shock.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“That, was for completely ignoring the company of two Pegasi mares. Idiot. Now follow me. You did well unlocking the Element of Laughter, it revealed some of the memories Typhoon took from us.”

The empty space around them both melted away, revealing a grassy hill. The grass was long, and it swayed in the cold breeze of the night. The moon was full, and eerie big in the night sky.

“I remember this now, this is the night I lost her.” The Pegasus’ head hung low. He sat in the soft grass, tears falling down his face. “How could I have forgotten her?”

Aeolus was about to ask who he was talking about, but he was interrupted by a loud noise in the distance. He turned and saw high above him a Kingdom he recognized. Canterlot. A Pegasus shot out of the highest tower. Faster than Aeolus thought could be possible. The Pegasus then began flying upward towards the moon. A visible cone of air appeared around him as he flew. Moments later the cone broke and in a flash of gold lightning the Pegasus disappeared.

“That… that was me wasn’t it?” Aeolus asked. His past self-looked at him in disgust.

“No. That was me. YOU are nothing like me. The fate I have suffered is not fair. You will live, and I, the real Aeolus will die.”

“What are you talking about?” Aeolus asked quietly, hurt by the words spoken by the Pegasus.

“Typhoon destroyed our memories, and stripped us of our powers. I am only a small fragment of what was left of the original. When you learn all of the Elements you will gain all of your memories back, and there will be no more space for me. I will die. You will live.”

Aeolus was shocked… It took him a second to realize what the Pegasus was saying. Every time he learned an Element of harmony they would remember part of their past. For him it would be a joy viewing these memories again, but for the Pegasus? It’ll only remind him that his time is almost up. There was a flash around them, and they reappeared in the beautiful star filled place they stood before.

The whole place was basically space. He was standing on nothing, the ground felt solid but when Aeolus looked down he saw nothing but empty space. All around him colors swirled together, between purple, black, white, blue, and other beautiful colors, stars shined brightly, twinkling in the moon light. Aeolus felt like this place was so familiar.

The Pegasus seemed to read his mind as he spoke. “We have been here before. A few times. It is called The Celestial Plane. It was once a Spirit prison, but now it belongs to Celestia and she uses it to tap into the memories of anypony she wishes. It’s kinda creepy to be honest.”

Aeolus was starting to see images all around him, he saw himself flying alongside various Pegasi. He saw himself expertly navigating the weather and enjoy the company of many different mares. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a purple flickering light.

“I…I don’t not remember this…” The Pegasus stammered. Aeolus turned to look at him but he was gone. Not a trace of his past self-remained.

“Aeolus? Where are you?!” He called out to himself, but the only response he got was a brighter flickering of purple light. He slowly started walking towards it, slowing his breathing down to avoid making even the slightest of noises.

All of a sudden there was a brighter purple spark not too far in front of him. It was unmistakably Unicorn magic.

“Twilight? Twilight is that you?” Aeolus asked as he got closer. He raised his hoof in front of his face and couldn’t see it at all. He opened his eyes wider but it didn’t help. There was a groan to his left that made Aeolus jump. “Hello?” he whispered. A voice in the dark responded, but not to Aeolus.

“Its ok Terra, I’m sure we’ll find a way out soon.” The voice of a stallion came from the darkness in front of Aeolus, there was a small purple light slowly intensifying in front of him. When it was fully lit Aeolus could see 3 ponies in very odd looking cages. There was a green and brown Earth pony, she had dark brown swirls around her eyes, and a dark brown mane. She was suspended slightly in the air, floating inside of a pink bubble. The purple light emitted from the horn of a people unicorn, his coat was peppered with small shining dots all over… his mane was a mix of bright blues and purples. He had chains holding each leg down, and around his horn was a cone. He tried to look down at his leg to shoot the chain off, but the cone prevented him to look all the way down.

There was a dark blue pony with a spiky mane, which changed colors between greens and blues. He sat panting in a massive snow globe, but instead of snow, there was nothing but sand. The glass had a small sun painted on it, it seemed to radiate heat inside the dome.

“Come on Tidal, you’re tough, Hang in there. Any second now Aeolus is gonna find his way here, shoot some girly lightning and free us!” The unicorn said with confidence, but his face was absent of any such confidence… the light from his horn slowly dimmed, before going out entirely.

Aeolus frowned and reached his hoof out to touch the chains holding down the Unicorn, but his hoof passed right through it. “I’m right here, but who are you guys? How do you know who I am?” But the ponies couldn’t hear him, they only sat sadly in their special prisons, waiting for help that might not come.

Then a bright yellow light shined in the air above them all, changing the colors of the space around them to bright blues and whites. A familiar voice called out to them from the light as it descended from above.

“Hex, Terra, Tidal. We have come here to release you from these prisons Discord put you in.” the ball of light opened up and the Alicorn princesses emerged. Celestia landed first, then Luna shortly after. At the sight of the princess of the night Aeolus’ heart skipped a beat. Though he didn’t understand why.

He stepped aside as the princesses approached the caged ponies. Their horns began to glow, and when they touched the tips together the three prisons broke open, and the ponies were freed. They stretched their legs out and pranced around. The purple pony laughed aloud and started an impressive magical fireworks show in the sky. “Wooohooo! Thank you so much!” He turned and looked at them… and then gasped. “No way… Sol? Nocturnal? It can’t be…” He started to back away, the green pony stepped forward. “Who are you? And how did you find us?” She asked, her tone was rude and angry rather than grateful.

“I am Celestia, and this is my sister Luna. We were giving the Elements of Harmony, and used their power to turn Discord to stone and end his rule over Equestria.” Celestia said to them. She looked around and questioned where they all were as well. “I do not know where we are however. After stopping Discord I knew our next job was to save you, so the elements brought us here. But one is missing. Where is Aeolus, ruler of the winds? ” Luna looked around curiously, until she saw Aeolus. She looked directly at him and glared, he could hear her voice inside his head. “Not yet” she said. Her eyes flashed white quickly, causing Aeolus to shut his eyes from the brightness.

I think he’s waking up. A voice spoke.

I’m so nervicited! Spoke another.

Hush Pinkie Pie!

Aeolus tried to open his eyes, but the bright light of the room wouldn’t allow it. The voices he heard sounded muffled but he could definitely recognize the loud chirping of Pinkie Pie.  He slowly forced his eyes open and squinted to allow his eyes time to adjust to the light. Once he fully opened them and his eyes started to focus he looked around to try and figure out where he was. He was lying in a rather uncomfortable bed, there was a huge white sheet dangling from the ceiling to the left and to his right were some hideous green curtains hanging from the sides of a window.

The only ponies in the room were Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was the first to realize he woke up. She stood over to the side of his bed and spoke softly to him. “Thank Celestia you’re awake, how are you feeling?”

Aeolus’ voice came out kinda raspy at first, he let out a cough clearing his throat. His body was waking up. “Ok, a bit thirsty and tired… where am I? What happened?” he asked her. He was about to sit up when Pinkie launched herself in the air, hoofs spread out wide preparing for a massive embrace. Aeolus shut his eyes and cringed, teeth grinding as he prepared for her impact. She was about to land on Aeolus when she froze in midair surrounded by a purple aura.

“Pinkie! Aeolus just woke up you can’t just jump on him” Twilight scolded. Pinkie’s face was frozen with a big smile but she muttered through the spell with a “sorry.” Twilight gently put her down next to Aeolus’ bed. She gave him a soft hug and backed away giggling. Rarity walked up and spoke to him.

“Thank goodness dear, we were so worried about you, you’ve been asleep for so long” she said to him. Aeolus stood up from the bed and stretched his legs, pulled off the green shirt he wore and then responded to Rarity.

“How long was I out for? The party was last night wasn’t it?” he asked them. All three of the ponies frowned to each other, Pinkie was the first to answer his question.

“Well actually Aeoly, it’s been about a week since the party. You’ve been sleeping for a while” she said to him. Aeolus’ jaw dropped.

“A week?? No it can’t be… I swear I just passed out.” He looked outside and saw it was a bright and sunny day, young fillies ran about and played, and other adult mares and stallions were walking around and talking. It seemed like a normal ordinary day. Aeolus was relieved. Typhoon wasn’t in control of weather during the day yet.

Twilight continued where Pinkie left off. “How are you feeling? After you blacked out we brought you to the local hospital here in Ponyville. I had to practically beg for them to not perform tests on you, I was afraid they might discover something different about you and well… that could be disastrous. But now that you’re awake we should get you out of here. Give me a second I’ll be right back.”

Twilight went to retrieve the doctor so he could discharge Aeolus from the hospital, Pinkie went with her bouncing out the room gleefully. Rarity approached him and put a hoof on his head checking his temperature.

“Well you seem to be feeling much better darling. When you passed out we got really nervous, the others have visited very frequently. Well not as much as myself, Pinkie, and Twilight but very near as much. And I am quite excited that I’m the first point out you’re no longer a blank flank.” She winked, and a pointed a hoof at his flank. Aeolus looked back and saw his cutie mark, at first really excited, then frowning after a moment.

“It’s… it’s not complete. This is just a cloud. I know there’s more to it” He responded sadly. However his memory of his past was a little less fuzzy. He didn’t feel much more powerful so to speak but he did feel a little more complete.

Yes. As you slowly are completed once more, I slowly will fade away.

Aeolus had expected to hear the voice soon… Thinking about the dying Aeolus only made him feel worse.

Twilight came in with Nurse Redheart and Pinkie, as they trotted into the room, Rarity trotted out. “I… I’ll be back… I have something I have to check on.”

The nurse did one final check on Aeolus before giving him permission to leave. Aeolus and the others left the room he layed in and sat in the waiting room, waiting for Rarity.

“Where is Rarity?” Aeolus asked impatiently, he felt confined in the building and wanted to leave.

“Maybe she’s in the little mare’s room?” Pinkie walked to a small fish tank and pushed her face against the glass. “HI FISHIES!”

“I’m sure Rarity will be here any second now.”

Perfectly on cue, Rarity trotted out into the waiting room.

“Sorry… I had something I had to take care of.” Her voice sounded like she had been… crying?

“Alright let’s go into town, Aeolus needs some fresh air.” Twilight opened the door with her magic, and allowed the others to leave.

The four ponies started to walk into the middle of town. Nothing seemed much different to Aeolus. Fillies ran about and played, other ponies were inside the various buildings or shops, living their lives like there wasn’t a care in the world.

Twilight and Pinkie were talking excitedly about some play Improv was gonna be in soon, but Rarity didn’t seem to be listening to their conversation. She looked at the ground as they walked and said nothing. Aeolus was looking at her and debated on saying something, but before he could Twilight nudged him.

“Hey Aeolus are you listening? The Running of the Leaves is in a few months. Maybe you should join us in it! I think it’ll be fun. I run it every year with Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” Twilight explained.

“What’s the Running of the Leaves?” Aeolus asked

“Well it’s only a huge tradition in Ponyville silly! Ponies race through all the forests local to Ponyville, the amount of ponies running added with speed helps the leaves fall. I used to run it too but the one year I ran so far ahead and so fast that I kinda knocked all the leaves down on my own, which made it less fun for the others. So now I just announce the action from Twilight’s old hot air balloon with Improv!” Pinkie beamed at Aeolus. But then her smile faded, replaced by a terrible frown. “Only this year… I don’t know if he’ll be able to announce it with me…”

Rarity looked up quickly, face full of seriousness. “Pinkie, is everything alright with Improv?”

Pinkie had a small amount of sweat glistening on her forehead. “Of course… Improv is just fine! Um… In fact I gotta go to his house now and pick up Gummy! I’ll… See you ponies later!” She gave them all a hug and trotted away, not keeping up with her pattern of usually bouncing wherever she went.

“Hmm. It’s very unlike Pinkie Pie to lie like this.” Rarity said to Twilight, who nodded in agreement.

“How do you know she is lying? She said she’s got to pick up some sort of gummy from Improv’s”

Both Rarity and Twilight laughed. “Gummy is the name of her pet Alligator.”

“What’s an Alligator?”

“Oh… never mind!” Rarity laughed again, not bothering to explain it all to Aeolus.

“Hey ponies, let’s get something to eat I’m pretty hungry!” Twilight said, stomach growling loudly.

They all were hungry so at the mentioned of food Aeolus and Rarity agreed quickly. They stopped by a small restaurant close to Twilight’s home. There wasn’t much of a wait, but since Twilight was a princess, she and her friends were “priority customers” and were seated almost immediately. Aeolus looked at the menu provided to him and was shocked at all the options

Mmmmm. All of this food sounds delicious.

He looked through foods, consisting of things like hay fries, apple pies, toast and pears and other good sounding foods. His mouth began to water reading the descriptions for each item, and he eventually decided to go with some apples and a cupcake. They took his menu, and after Rarity and Twilight ordered took theirs as well.

Their food arrived shortly and they ate without much conversation. Aeolus looked around the town while he sat and enjoyed his food, he saw so much laughter and happiness all over. Ponies happy and talking and playing, there was even some music playing from a record player near the town hall fountain with ponies dancing near it. He could no longer help holding back asking, so he just did it.

“Twilight why are all these ponies so happy? Pegasi still cannot fly, and it storms every night. Are they not aware of the danger that’s around them?” he asked.

“We need to keep everypony oblivious to Typhoon’s return, remember what Celestia said? If there is panic he will grow stronger. And as far as the Pegasi go they are trying to just enjoy their days and they pray that Celestia and Luna will cure them. For now that is good enough. I know you want to help and Celestia told us to do whatever we can to teach you the elements… but sometimes cramming can be bad, trust me. We’ll wait a little before trying to teach you another element. You only just got out of the hospital” She replied.

Aeolus understood. There was a time for work and a time to relax. Today was such a beautiful day he didn’t mind letting his mind wander away from his duties and Typhoon and try to enjoy himself for once.

They finished up their meals and left. Twilight left a few bits even though the waiter insisted the meal was free on the account of her royal status. As they began to walk to the busy district of Ponyville Twilight and Rarity mentioned they both had various errands to run. Aeolus decided to tag along since he had nowhere else to go.

They went to different stores and while the girls bought what they needed Aeolus shopped around and talked to some of Ponyville’s citizens. All the ponies Aeolus saw simply greeted him and moved on to continue about their own business, except for one, a purple earth pony, with a pink and white striped mane. He noticed her cutie mark consisted of three smiling flowers. When he said hello to her, she actually stopped and put her bags down interested in a quick chat.

“Hi there, I don’t think I’ve met you before? My name is Cheerilee what’s your name?” She smiled and looked at him sweetly.

“My name is Aeolus, I’m not from around here, and I’m pretty new to Ponyville.” He replied, her eyes widened and she reached a hoof out and touched his shoulder.

“Oh I knew I’d seen you somewhere before! You were the pony at the party last week!” She blushed slightly at him.

“I meant to come talk to you, I wanted to apologize to you for losing your memory… I thought maybe we could’ve danced for a bit and had some fun! But you disappeared.” She explained.

“Oh that’s ok, I’m sure I can find a time to share a dance with you, Cheerilee.” He smiled at her.

Don’t do, oh never mind. The smile is always what sucks mares in.

Cheerilee giggled slightly, she found Aeolus incredibly attractive. “Oh my… thank you Aeolus!” A bell tolled in the distance and Cheerilee jumped at the sound of it, quickly coming to her senses.

“Oh no! I have to go Aeolus, I’m the teacher up at the school house. You should come up one day and visit me and my students!” She picked up her bags and started to gallop off “Bye!”

I bet you’ll pass any class she teaches… pass with flying colors.

“Would you shut up? I have no interest in sleeping with a bunch of mares!” Aeolus yelled that last part a little too loud, and the couple of ponies nearby gave him weird looks as they slowly trotted off. Twilight and Rarity came out of the store called barnyard bargains and realized the nearly empty street.

“Where did everypony go?” Twilight asked.

“Did you do something um… Spirity Aeolus?” Rarity looked at him puzzled.

“No… it’s nothing. What are you guys doing next?” He wanted to change the subject quickly before the voice of his past suggested he slept with one of his two friends.

“Twilight! We simply must go see that new store that opened a few blocks away! JC Ponies!” They both laughed merrily and galloped down the street. Aeolus simply smiled and sighed, following them slowly.

Hours and hours of shopping thankfully dwindled down to nothing. Twilight had to make one last stop by town hall to see the mayor, as she performed her royal duties Aeolus and Rarity waited outside.

The day was slowly coming to a close. Aeolus turned his head towards Canterlot and used his powerful vision to search for the Princesses of the Sun slowly make daytime come to its end, but he couldn’t spot Celestia anywhere.

“Aeolus… what are you doing?” Rarity asked him curiously. He blinked hard a few times so his vision would return to normal.

“Oh sorry, it’s this power I have, I can see things extremely far away. Like from here I can see Canterlot clearly… I kinda wanted to see Celestia lower the sun.”

“Wow! That’s very impressive, what other powers do you have?” She asked quite curiously.

“I’m not all too sure right now. I remember flying and being able to shoot lightning out of my wings. But that’s it for now. As I learn more elements I’ll get more memories and powers back.” As Aeolus responded to her he noticed Rarity staring at the clock tower in the distance, she squinted hard trying to see the time.

“Rarity I just told you I have the power to see things at great distances and you’re hurting yourself trying to see the time! Let me look… It’s Seven forty five right now.”

“What?! I’m sorry Aeolus I have to leave. Tell Twilight I’m terribly sorry!” and without further explaining herself, she bolted down the street, turned a corner and disappeared.

After a good half hour Twilight finally emerged from the double doors of town hall.

“Finally! Sorry Aeolus I didn’t realize it would take so long.” She smiled at him, then looked around for Rarity. “Hey where did Rarity go?” she asked him.

Aeolus explained her oddly leaving, expression concern for the Unicorn.

“Don’t worry I’m sure she’s fine. The life of a fashion designer can be a stressful one.” With a slight smile. But then her toned changed “Rarity wouldn’t lie to us. But I have a feeling something odd is happening around Ponyville.”

“Why do you say that Twilight? I haven’t noticed anything too weird.”

Her voiced went barely over a whisper. “How many Unicorns did you see today?”

Aeolus thought back, he remembered seeing a Unicorn or two… but mostly Earth ponies and Pegasi.

“Twilight what are you suggesting? What is wrong with Unicorns?”

“I don’t know Aeolus, don’t worry about it though, I’m sure I’m just worrying myself for no reason as always…” She changed the subject quickly.

“Hey Aeolus, since we never officially got you a place to stay, and I have an extra bed, why don’t you stay with me and Spike at the library?” she had a big smile on her face and flapped her wings in place.

Aeolus smiled back and replied “Thank you Twilight, I’d be glad to.” But he didn’t let the thought about missing Unicorns leave his mind. He was gonna find out what was going on from Twilight.

As the sun hid behind the mountains in the west, and the moon rose from the east they walked to Twilight’s house. The sky was exceptionally clear tonight. Not a cloud in sight.

“I can’t believe it. No storm tonight?” Aeolus said to Twilight.

“Maybe Luna had enough power to stop him for the night… or maybe he just didn’t feel like making a storm! It’s so beautiful I haven’t seen a night like this in weeks. A silent night.” she responded.

As they approached the library, Twilight opened the door and the first thing they saw was Spike asleep on the stairs, duster in hand. Twilight stifled back a laugh before gently lifting him up with magic.

“Awh poor Spike, can’t you ever fall asleep in your bed?” she lectured the sleeping dragon, then proceeding to take him upstairs. When she was gone Aeolus looked around some of the bookshelves to see if there was anything else interesting to read. There was a quick shadow that flew above him, he jumped and quickly turned around seeing nothing. As he looked back to the bookcase there was a tapping sound over by Twilight’s desk, then another sound of flapping wings. Aeolus turned again and saw Twilight coming down the stairs.

“Aeolus are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” she asked him.

“I swear there must be someone else here! I keep hearing noises and the sound of flapping wings!” he responded, keeping his eyes fixed all around him.

Twilight giggled before looking towards her desk.

“Owlowiscious, come out here and stop scaring ponies.” She called out towards the dark corner, there was a “whoooo” and a small creature flew from the darkness and landed on Twilight’s back.

“What is that thing?” Aeolus asked.

It looks like a demon straight from Tartarus. You must destroy it before it destroys you!

“This is my pet Owlowiscious, he’s an owl. I usually stay up late studying or reading and Spike falls asleep so early so Owlowiscious helps me with anything I might need during the night, since he’s nocturnal.” She explained, rubbing her nose against her pet owl’s wing.

“But tonight you get the night off, I’m going to bed early.”

Do not believe the lies Aeolus. Watch out for that thing. Its beady little eyes want your soul.

The owl hooted and then flew back to the desk, Twilight looked at Aeolus but before she could speak Aeolus went first.

“Twilight I’ve been meaning to ask you. At the party before the power went out you told me you read something in a book and needed to talk to me about it. What was it?” He had been meaning to confront her with this and felt this time was as good as any.

She frowned for a moment, then gave him a small smile. “It’s nothing important Aeolus, I took care of it don’t worry about it.” She paused for a moment looking out the window towards the moon. She then continued. “I set up the extra bed right across from mine, just come on up whenever you’re ready. I made a list of the elements you have left and the order of which you should learn them, along with some tactics on how we should practice for you to learn each one! Tomorrow we’ll go over it together!” she exclaimed. She wished him a goodnight and then disappeared up the stairs.

Aeolus stood alone in the middle of the library for a bit. He glanced outside and saw the moon shining in the sky, stars twinkled all around it. He decided, even though Celestia warned for him not to, to walk around the town. He opened the door, exited the library, and started walking around Ponyville alone. There were no other ponies out that night, he thought it was nice that he had the entire town to himself.

Ponyville had a beautiful blue glow to it, the moon was full and shone over the town with a magical radiance. Aeolus wanted to get a bit of a better view, he looked around and spotted exactly what he was looking for. The nearest closed shop had a couple of stacks of boxes beside it, he climbed up the boxes and got up to the roof and laid down.  He looked around the town and saw the rays of the moon clearly shining over each building. He smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet of Ponyville. This silent night. There was a small flash of light and then the sound of some ruffling. Aeolus kept his eyes closed but smiled.

“You know one day you’re really gonna scare a pony doing that.” He said aloud.

“Well you were not frightened, besides I do not normally visit ponies during my night unless they are having a bad dream.” Princess Luna responded.

Aeolus turned his head and looked at her, she layed close to him, her hair flowing, there were sparkles throughout it that twinkled as they moved. The moonlight seemed to be attracted to her, and she looked beautiful. Aeolus found himself staring, he blushed and looked away. Butterflies in his stomach danced about.

“So princess, what are you doing in Ponyville tonight? Did you wish to talk to me?” She raised an eyebrow.

“You have suspected my actions correctly. Yet incorrectly. Because Typhoon did not blacken my night sky with his hideous storms I thought maybe I could pay you a visit.... both of you....” she said.

Me?

“Yes. You Aeolus.”

How can you… Luna… do you know the truth?

“I do, I have come to say goodbye to you Aeolus. I realize now you are lost, this new Aeolus will take your place. Perhaps this is better. I feel he will not make the same mistakes you have made in your past.”

I do too Princess. I do too. I am sorry. The voice of Aeolus’ past then silenced, not making himself heard for the rest of the night.

Aeolus looked over at her once again and got lost in her blue eyes. He felt embarrassed but didn’t look away this time. “How did you know?” he questioned.

“Because whether or not you are the Aeolus I’ve always known, or a new and pure Aeolus. You are a spirit. Being a spirit myself I can sense when there is something wrong with powerful beings like me. I feel you are troubled. Tell me what is wrong.”

He frowned and told her his concerns. “I don’t know Luna. I know Typhoon didn’t make it rain tonight, but if I don’t learn these elements soon he will find me and Ponyville. And kill everyone. I don’t know which element to learn next and all the Bearers… my friends, are so busy right now. Twilight said she had a list” Luna rolled her eyes at that.  “But with Applejack running her farm, Fluttershy tending to her animals, Rarity making her dresses--” Luna cut him off

“Rarity hasn’t made a dress in months.” She responded confused. Aeolus looked at her raising an eyebrow. Her eyes widened. “The Unicorns. There weren’t many of them that appeared in town today am I correct?” Aeolus nodded.

“Perhaps tomorrow you should go have a conversation with Rarity. Lately her dreams have not been pleasant, I’ve had to help her sleep for quite some time. And if she has kept her secret from you and her friends… well she might need your help Aeolus. She is not the only Unicorn these nights of late that call out to me in their sleep.” She continued.

Aeolus pondered on the idea, and decided that paying a visit to rarity alone tomorrow would be a great way to begin his journey towards generosity, as well as helping a friend.

“Thank you Luna, I appreciate your help” He thanked her with a small grin. She stood up and stretched her wings, even though she couldn’t fly.

“Of course Aeolus, it’s the least I can do. I hope to speak with you again… soon… there is something… No. Never mind. I will talk with you again soon Aeolus.” She turned and faced her castle. “I should head back to Canterlot, there are some things I must attend to since it seems like I will not be dealing with Typhoon tonight.” She began to walk towards the far end of the roof. Aeolus called out to her. She turned when she heard her name.

“Luna wait, I have to say, tonight is such a beautiful night. I love it... it's so quiet.” He flashed her a smile, then looked back up at the moon. Luna turned away. Tears began to form and flow down her cheeks. She teleported away, but only to the nearby roof of another building, she hid in the shadows and watched the pony of the wind for a moment. He looked at the moon and stars for a little longer before yawning loudly, climbing down from the roof and heading back towards Twilight’s treehouse. Luna cried silently, she started to think back, to a thousand years ago, when only a handful of ponies appreciated her night. Aeolus was one of them.

This silent night.

“You once loved me too… but now you have forgotten.” She reached a hoof up to her breastplate. Imprinted on it was a picture of her Cutie Mark, but behind the symbol a secret was hidden. When she touched the crescent moon a small compartment popped open, using her magic she lifted a ring out. Along the edge of the ring there was an engraving.

I will always be the wind that guides you. Love Aeolus.

“I must now forget too.” In a flash of black magic, Luna appeared on her bedroom balcony, Still holding the ring with her magic. She lowered the ring right in front of her eyes and re-read the engraving. More tears formed in her eyes.

Will it be the same as before?

She walked to the edge of the balcony. Her perch overlooking all of Equestria. She floated the ring over and debated letting it go. Letting him go.

Must my nights forever be silent? Forever be alone?

The ring shouldn't have had any weight to it when encased with her magic... but at this certain moment. It was as heavy to her as her heart was.

You still love him? There was a distant laughter in her mind... A laugh Luna hoped she would never hear again. The one thing that gave her nightmares.

She fell to her knees and cried. Her magic losing its grip on the ring, it slowly began to fall. She quickly remembered thousands of silent nights. Thousands nights of where she battled with her inner evils. An evil that can never be destroyed. There was a voice in her head as well, A voice that did not belong to Luna.

How long can you keep me away child? How long did you beg for Aeolus to save you? For how long did he disappoint you?

Nightmare Moon will never stop haunting Luna.

She quickly lurched up and leaned over the balcony and caught the ring in an aura of blue.

"I will not let him go. I will make him remember. Together we will destroy you."

You foal. When he betrays your love again Luna. I will destroy you both, I will hear you, and everypony you care about scream. Then, after they are all dead. The night will be silent.